Objective: To characterize choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in black
patients examined at a retinal disease referral center. Design: Retro
spective review of the medical records of all patients diagnosed as ha
ving CNV to identify black patients with CNV. Setting: Single tertiary
retinal referral center that included four ophthalmologists. Patients
: All patients diagnosed as having CNV between April 1990 and October
1992. Main Outcome Measures: Prevalence, demographic information, fund
us photographic and fluorescein angiographic characteristics, natural
history, and response to laser photocoagulation of CNV in black patien
ts. Results: Black patients comprise 15% of all patients seen at this
center. Of 1725 patients identified as having CNV who were seen at the
center during a 2.5-year period, only 25 were black (1.4%). In these
patients, CNV was associated with a variety of retinal diseases, the m
ost frequent being age-related macular degeneration. The average age o
f the study group was 54 years, women outnumbered men 2:1, and 13 of t
he patients developed bilateral lesions. Twelve of the 38 lesions were
extrafoveal on presentation, and five of these were peripapillary. In
the laser-treated eyes, recurrence of CNV was frequent and associated
with visual Conclusions: Choroidal neovascularization seems to be rar
e in blacks among a retinal disease referral center population. The ov
erall presentation, natural history, and response to laser treatment s
eems to be similar to that of white patients. No feature of CNV in bla
ck patients was identified that would suggest that results of randomiz
ed clinical trials of laser photocoagulation for CNV are not valid for
these patients.